During the Tanar'ri Wars, as the heroes of the Prime Material were scrambling to prepare themselves to face the armies of invading demons (and their mortal servants), a great sacrifice was made by a group of holy warriors. All of the Divine Champions in service to Heironeous and St. Cuthbert that lived in that day and age, 1000 men and women, stood alone at the center of what is now the Great Rift, against the oncoming hordes that were pouring forth from a colossal planar gate.

These Divine Champions gave their lives in defense of the Prime Material plane and all who live within it, and with their blood bought the time necessary for the peoples of the world to marshal their armies and defend themselves. Of the original 1000, only 9 survived. Their further exploits in that time are epic stories in and of themselves, however, what is worthy of note here is the lasting legacy that they formed, which lives even unto this day.

Calling themselves "Knights of The Last Stand", in homage to the original 1000, these 9 warriors petitioned their patron deities to form an ever vigilant order, born from their council, which would ensure the safety of the Prime Material from Lachesta and the Tanar'ri throughout the Ages. Heironeous and St. Cuthbert saw that this was righteous, and so they also made a sacrifice that day; they gave up their own individual Divine Champions and formed a bond between them, such that any such warrior who served one of them was considered to serve the other as well, and would benefit from both.

There are no more Divine Champions of either deity, but rather there are now Knights who are servants of both. In order to play a character with the Paladin Class in the world of Warj'Arune, you must be a servant of Heironeous or St. Cuthbert, and you will automatically be considered a member of the "Knights of the Last Stand", which is treated as an official Guild. There are no other Paladins. THE WORD "PALADIN" IS CONSIDERED OOC IN OUR GAME, since the Paladin Class is now being treated as both a Prestige Class and a Guild. If you have levels of Paladin, you are considered by all to be a Knight of The Last Stand.

Note that these restrictions also apply to the Prestige Paladin class variant listed in the d20 SRD.

See "Paladin Class" for more details on the Paladin class in Warj'Arune.